Saturday, June 13, 2009

“Calcutta” has been playing in my head since I first heard it two and a half weeks ago. Unlike most tunes that get stuck in my head, I hope this one never stops. It’s great.

I find this clip of people dancing to “Calcutta” on the Lawrence Welk Show totally mesmerizing. I wasn’t alive in 1961 when this aired originally, but I assume it was exactly this type of thing that was boring to death the kids who were to graduate high school in a few years. Though I absolutely appreciate the tune and the video on their own merits, not just as a foil for “Purple Haze,” it’s hard for me to watch the video and not think, if only vaguely, about the weirdness and violence that was about to break its chain in America.